Fashion and Craft - exhibition raises questions about traditions and crafts in contemporary designWhat role do crafts and traditional knowledge play in contemporary fashion design? In a collaboration between the All Russian Museum of Decorative Arts in Moscow and the Swedish Institute in Stockholm, three Russian and three Swedish designers have been invited to reflect on the question in an exhibition where the designers' own works are displayed along with objects from the museum's collections. During the exhibition week workshops will be held in which the audience can meet the participating designers and learn about their design process, and a 36-hour open workshop with focus on recycling where everyone is welcome to contribute to a common work of art.In recent years, craft related issues are once again highly topical in both Sweden and Russia. When it comes to fashion, consumers are getting more eager to know where, how and by whom a garment has been produced, and more and more make themselves, something that the international maker movement is a sign of. But how does the fashion designers themselves relate to crafts and traditional knowledge?With the aim of highlighting these issues and create a forum for exchange between Russian and Swedish designers, the All Russian Museum of Decorative Arts in Moscow and the Swedish Institute in Stockholm has joined forced in a project to which three Russian and three Swedish designers - who in different ways are inspired by or use crafts techniques in their making - have been invited to display own works in an exhibition, and reflect on their the them in an interview. Each designer has also selected a few objects from the museum collections that will be displayed along with the creators’ garments and jewelry.The three Russian designs - Nadia Konrad (Gwynt), Svetlana Salnikova (Fy:r Clothes )and Natalia Timakova - are all relatively new graduates but are already running or are about to start their own fashion company. Natalia works in the innovative future of materials, Svetlana cares about the small-scale and locally produced crafts and Nadia describes how the perception of the handmade is changing in Russia.- This is no longer something that’s only associated with the old Soviet era. It’s a general trend, as for instance in the slow fashion movement. Just like in the world around us we want to buy handmade things so as to get something unique, to control the manufacturing process and to change consumption habits, says Nadia Konrad.Sweden is represented by the designer and artist Johanna Törnqvist, who in her newest project Precious Trash is up-cycling garbage, Emelie Ahlnér, who is inspired by old knowledge but is working in new technologies, and Carolina Rönnberg (Wilhja) who slowly and carefully sculpts her haute couture creations. The Fashion and Craft project takes place between May 25 to June 1 and consists of different parts; the exhibition, workshops with all designers and an open 36-hour workshop where all interested can try out various textile techniques and contribute to a collective artwork that will take shape in the museum park the weekend of May 30 to 31.

- The heart of the exhibition consists of the exchange of ideas and knowledge - between past and present, between fashion talents from both countries, and between designers and visitors. Fashion and Craft presents the meeting between craft practice and new thinking. This is one of the keys to building an innovative and sustainable future as we see it, says Rebecca Ahlstedt, exhibition curator at the Swedish Institute.For further information and registration for the workshop designs, please visit the museum's website: (link) (from May 20)Contact person All Russian Museum of Decorative Arts: name, phone, email. Contact person Swedish Institute: Project Manager Jenny Bergström, +4684537951, jenny.bergstrom@si.se. Participating designers: Svetlana Salnikova, Moscow, RussiaSvetlana is the co-creator of the brand Fy:r clothes created in 2014. The name is inspired by the Swedish word for lighthouse. The idea of the brand is the beauty of “dissonance”. It can be shown in ideas, colours, textures and techniques used in the collections. Svetlana is greatly interested in combining traditional heritage with contemporary techniques. http://fyrclothes.tilda.ws/Nadia Konrad, Moscow, RussiaNadia recently graduated from the British Higher School of Art and Design in Moscow. For Nadia, handcraft represents a quality of uniqueness and timelessness deeply rooted in the past, traditions, culture and memory. In her fashion she aims at combining traditions with modern trends; rethinking cuts and reworking traditional knowledge with new technology.https://www.facebook.com/gwynt.ruNatalia Timakova, Moscow, RussiaNatalia is an artist who recently moved into fashion design. She works with innovative materials and creates complicated 3-D sculptural works. Traditional Russian crafts and styles have been an important influence. Immersed in traditions she has found new inspiration for her current work. https://www.facebook.com/natali.timakovaCarolina Rönnberg , Vilhelmina, Swedenis a young fashion designer with a great passion for her craft. Her designs are a far cry from the minimalism often associated with Swedish fashion and are as much high fashion and couture as art. In her own words: alternative luxury or expressive elegance.http://wilhja.com/Johanna Törnqvist, Gnesta, Swedenmakes jewellery and garnments out of recycled textile and plastic materials. She uses trash and throwaways from her own and her family and friends’ consumption of daily waste and packaging material. She is refining waste, pleated and stitched together with the same precision as haute couture. She wants her work to contribute to the ongoing debate about sustainability in the fashion industry. http://www.johannatornqvist.com/Emelie Ahlnér, Gothenburg, SwedenRecently graduated from The Swedish School of Textiles in Borås, Emelie takes folklore patterns into the future with the help of technology and new materials like fibre optics and led lamps. Her much talked-about degree project Kurbitch! won a prize from the Swedish Fashion Council with the citation: “The Kurbitch! collection is giving heritage and tradition new dimensions”.http://emelieahlner.tumblr.com/